Loyalty of Sand
by Kai the Brony
Summary: When Celestia sends Amber, a protector of the border between the Changeling Grounds and Equestria, Twilight is excited to help her learn about friendship. However, Amber proves to have more baggage than Twilight had expected. With trouble finding her at every turn, Amber shows that she is claustrophobic, insecure, and attracts a fair share of enemies, both real and hallucinated.
1. Trippin out, spinnin' around

**Disclaimer: **I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic in any way, shape, or form. All I've got is my OC, Amber.

* * *

**Prologue**

Many years ago, before Equestria was formed and ponies even brought into existence, there were four alicorns. They were a family: a mother, a father, and their two daughters, Celestia and Luna. The mother, Terra, took charge of the light while her husband Ponce ruled over the darkness. They lived in a wild land, fraught with danger at every turn. Plants grew on their own power, tangled and unruly, and the clouds moved themselves causing strange and often deadly weather patterns. The animals governed themselves in a brutal fashion. If one was too weak to survive, nopony would be there to help it and it would simply die.

Yet the world was not without its beauty. Some creatures, such as the Phoenix, gained favor with the alicorns and became their pets and were loyal to their masters. One day the king and queen took it upon themselves to subjugate the realm before them and bring peace to its unhappy creatures.

With a down feather from a Roc bird they created pegasi, swift and proud, and granted them wings that they might soar above the ground and have power over the clouds.

Taking an enchanted piece of glass, they formed the unicorn, graceful and fair, and granted them the power to raise and set the sun and moon until their daughters grew old enough to take on the responsibility.

A simple piece of hard soil was used to create the earth ponies. Plain at first sight, they proved to be dedicated and powerful, a force to be reckoned with. They were responsible for producing the food that all needed to live.

The land was quickly brought to order with their help, but dangers still lurked. Monsters like the changelings brought deception and anger into the ponies' lives and wars broke out as they slowly took over the land. A spell was created to reveal who was who they claimed to be and who was a changeling, but still they could not weed out all the changelings. A new type of pony emerged looking like a pegasus but striped like a zebra. Slowly, she fought her way through the ranks and took charge of the armies. The vast majority of the changelings were driven to the badlands under her control.

The king and queen saw this and granted her eternal youth and life as well as a handpicked patrol with the same privilege on the condition that she guard the borders between the badlands and civilized land and kept the changelings in their asked her name she replied that she was called Amber Sands.

For several centuries she and her guard kept the borders safe. But it was a lonely existence, cut off from the rest of the world. Unless a filly or colt wandered too far and had to be returned, nopony could leave, for the changelings fought with an unmatched fury, longing to be freed from their wretched home.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

A winged zebra sat alone in a dungeon. Really it wasn't so bad, Celestia kept them clean and sunny. But it wasn't the dungeon that depressed the pony.

The door opened and a guard poked his head in. He stared with curiosity at the fallen warrior. Her eyes were the bright color of amber, but they were sorrowful, repentant. This was Amber Sands, the Princess of War. She didn't seem particularly terrifying with her mane and tail a disheveled mess, dust matted in her fur. She seemed worn and haggard. He cleared his throat. "You have an audience with Celestia."

Amber Sands looked up as if she had just noticed him. Wordlessly she rose to her feet and walked through the door. Was this truly the Princess of War? The guard wondered.

They walked through the white hallways into the throne room. As Amber walked she marveled at the marble pillars and how they reflected the dying sunlight. Soon the night would come with its silvery light, the stars shining like jewels in the sky. The corridors were long and winding, and Amber began to feel cramped and confined. Her heart beat just a little faster at the thought of being trapped here forever.

"Ma'am?" The guard turned to her. "There's no need to worry, miss. Celestia is not one to kill her prisoners. Unlike some others with power I could mention." He gave her a pointed look.

Amber merely bowed her head and fixed her eyes on the sparkling floor. She was so tired. All she wanted to do was to go back home. The guard turned left and she followed him. To her confusion, he led her into a bathroom. She tilted her head questioningly.

The guard cleared his throat uncomfortably. "No offense, ma'am, but you smell like refuse from the kitchen. It would not be fitting for the princess to see you in this state. I'll give you your privacy."

Wordlessly, Amber nodded and watched as the guard closed the door. She then turned her attention to the large bathtub in the center of the room. It was more of a small swimming pool filled with bubbles. A golden sun was emblazoned on the bottom of the pool, and Amber realized with a start that Celestia had given her permission to use her own personal tub.

Cautiously, she stuck the tip of her hoof in the water. To her surprise, it was still very warm. Slowly, she lowered herself into the water, allowing her wings to soak up the oils and scents. They would be heavy afterwards, but they reeked of changeling, grime, and the general stench that builds up after going a month without bathing.

The filth practically floated away from her body. After about half an hour of scrubbing her fur off she could almost see her pink skin beneath soggy fur. She grunted as she pulled herself out of the tub and remembered why she usually just preened her feathers. They must have weighed an extra twenty pounds. She dragged them along the ground and dried them with a towel for what felt like an age and definitely took at least five towels. She decided to just shake the rest of the water off like a dog. Finally she found a comb on the floor, ran it through her mane, and walked outside the room. For a moment, she hesitated. She had grown used to solitude and regretted leaving it.

The guard grunted then led Amber to Celestia's throne room.

The sun had finished setting and Celestia appeared to be ready to go to sleep. Princess Celestia gave him an acknowledging nod. "Thank you, Regal Charge. Guards, you are dismissed for an hour."

The doors shut behind the guards, and Amber Sands was alone with the ruler of Equestria.

Celestia looked down at the pony before her. She towered over her, even sitting on her throne, filling the room with a sense of command that could not be denied. "Princess Amber Sands, look at me."

The zebra reluctantly obeyed. "Yes, my lady?"

Celestia sighed. How should she do this? "Oh, forget all this regal stuff. Come over here. Care for a banana?"

Amber Sands shook her head.

"Hm. You don't like bananas. Interesting. Sister, it has been too long. We have so much to talk about! Blueblood has definitely inherited your pride, no offense, but Cadence has your grace and beauty…" Amber was her sister only because Celestia had decided on such a whim in her filly days.

The zebra gave her a confused look. "Have you come merely to tell me how much my children have taken after me and- and Camelot? I'm not beautiful or graceful, you know it better than anybody."

"You still haven't found Camelot?" Amber Sands shook her head. Celestia sighed. "I suppose I have to get back down to business now, don't I? You have terrorized Equestria for several months now. Why did you do this?"

Amber Sands tried not to look down. "Discord," she said. "I was fighting the changelings and he came up to me. He- he said that I was fighting without reason. The changelings were far more powerful, and a few always slipped past me. That you were cruel by assigning me an impossible task. Why should I do this job and still receive no thanks from the ponies I defended? He told me that I should go and be powerful, like a thousand changelings, be respected for a change. And- I believed him. I wanted to believe him." She sighed. I chose to believe him.

Celestia sighed. She knew Discord's charm too well. "What am I going to do with you, Amber Sands?" She wondered.

"To kill me would be just, m'lady. So many more have died at my hands"

"No!" The ruler leapt out of her throne. "I could not do that. You are my sister. I couldn't end your life. I will send you to Ponyville with my sister. I think she will be able to relate with you better than I ever could."

The prisoner's shackles fell off her feet. "As you wish it, my lady." Amber was secretly relieved. Celestia had chosen to be lenient. Amber knew she didn't deserve it.

"But that is not all," Amber Sand's heart sank. Perhaps she wasn't being forgiven quite so easily. "I must strip you of your undeserved honors. You are no longer Princess Amber Sand until you can prove yourself worthy of the title. You are to go by the name Amber and," Celestia's eyes widened. "Sister, where has your cutie mark gone?"

Amber shrugged. "My cutie mark left while I was corrupted. I don't even remember what it looked like. That's why I took to wearing a cloak."

Celestia gave her a strange look. "You don't remember your cutie mark? I remember it clear as day, as well as when you got it." She yawned. "Sorry, I'm growing tired. I'm usually in bed by now. I will lend you a cloak and send you on your way. You will meet Twilight Sparkle. I believe she will help you make some new friends who will in turn help you by being a good influence. They might even help with your Cutie Mark." Celestia whispered in her ear. "I hope that when you feel ready you will come back. I have so much to say. Luna!" She shouted. Amber grimaced. Her "sister" had forgotten to move her mouth away from her ear.

The Princess of Night flew in through the window like a bird coming to roost in its nest. "Wouldn't it have been easier to take the door?" Celestia arched an eyebrow.

Luna snorted. "It might be so if thou had not assigned the guards to bar the door."

"I never-"

"Therefore, I chose to think outside of the metaphorical box. Come, Amber, let us go." Amber looked at her sister in confusion. Why was she using such archaic speech? At least she was not using the royal Canterlot voice.

"Hold up." Celestia yawned. "Just where are you going?"

"To Ponyville of course." Luna replied. Then she realized her mistake.

"And how, Luna, did you know what I needed you to do and where you were needed before I even asked a favor? Have you been eavesdropping again?"

"Thou accuse me of spying? Thou art wrong. I," The princess searched for an excuse. "I merely overheard." She tossed her mane stubbornly. "And besides, is she not as much my sister as your own?"

Celestia laughed wearily. "Of course. I do not blame you; she is your sister too. I suppose you will want to be on your way."

* * *

An hour later the sisters of night and war departed. They flew for a mile or so before one spoke. "So, Amber, has Cadence seen you yet?" Luna asked.

Amber nodded. "She has. I was not sure if she would still want me as a mother."

"Did she?" Luna turned to face her sister.

"Surprisingly, yes." Amber didn't particularly want to talk. There was too much to think about.

Luna looked at her closely. "There's something different about you."

Amber flattened her ears. "Yes, I suppose there is. I don't have a cutie mark. Thanks for reminding me."

"No, it isn't that. It's your mane. It's straight."

Amber glanced up at her mane. She hadn't paid much attention to it lately. "Oh. Well."

"Spitfire always styles her mane the way you used to. She really does admire you, Amber. Now I wonder," Luna mused. "Maybe you're like Pinkie Pie. When she is depressed, her mane becomes straight like yours. Celestia told me."

"Yes, well, while I couldn't be more interested in the latest pony fashion styles, is there anything else you need to tell me? I just haven't bothered styling it after being on the borders for a few years. Celestia said you might be able to relate better to me. What did she mean?"

Luna looked away, her cheeks turning a pale shade of pink. "You don't have to tell me," Amber amended.

"No, I do. I can't hide this from you or anypony who asks. Let's sit down over there by that oak tree."

Amber looked down where her sister pointed and wondered why she had to stop to hear this. She knew that Luna had been sent to the moon for a thousand years, but Celestia had been too upset to tell her why. "What could I have missed?"

Luna sighed. They had now landed. "I will tell you now. It is a long story, and I am not proud of what I did, but it is one that needs to be told.

* * *

"I was the youngest filly, but you already knew that. You also know that I ruled the night as I do now. And for years, I was content to do my duty. The night was cool, and beautiful. The stars never left the sky as long as I was there. I wanted to share this gift with everyone in Equestria.

"But I soon noticed that the gift was not wanted. The ponies shut their eyes to what I knew was beauty; they ignored my calming darkness. They slept through the night. They never appreciated what I did."

Amber was starting to understand what Celestia had meant. Nopony ever gave her a simple thank you for keeping their skins on their bodies. In fact, she was pretty sure that very few knew of her existence. She could never leave her job for anything. Until now. Celestia had sent the best of her elite forces to hold the changelings at bay.

The funny thing was Amber was the eldest of the sisters. She had been born during the dark times of Equestria, even before the Windigo kind drove the ponies to inhabit Equestria. Wild creatures, satyrs, minotaurs, Timber Wolves, Changelings, and worse roamed free, terrorizing the ponies. Her parents began training her for battle the day she received her cutie mark. They believed that she was destined to be Equestria's protection. And it seemed that she was. She had eventually corralled most of the creatures into the Everfree Forest, but the most intelligent ones, the Changelings, had been banished to their own barren land. Harsh? Perhaps, but not compared to what they had done to the ponies.

"I grew bitter. I resented Celestia for receiving the better realm, I was angry that nobody appreciated me. Bit by bit I turned into a monster. My mane and tail became spangled like the night sky and transparent. I could change its length and I could use it to lift things without a levitation spell. But it didn't stop there. My coat turned darker until it was black as the night, but without any stars, just the moon for my cutie mark. My eyes shifted and changed until they were a dragon's. I became Nightmare Moon.

"I was pleased with the change to say the least. I would force the ponies to notice me, and they would see that my realm was every bit as beautiful as Celestia's. In a sense, I would outshine Celestia herself. She tried to help me, to bring back the real me, but it was too late. So she tolerated my moodiness and let me be. But that wasn't enough. Not for Nightmare Moon. Finally, I refused to bring the moon down from the sky. Celestia begged and pleaded but my heart was stone. So she harnessed the Elements of Harmony. We used to use them together, but now she was forced to use them alone. I was sent up to the moon I loved so much for a thousand years.

"But I did not change for the better on the moon. I grew even more bitter and went over the events of that day until they became my sole thought. I completed the change to Nightmare Moon. It came with power beyond belief. Dark power. Evil power. I now lived for revenge and to bring eternal night to Equestria.

"On the thousandth anniversary of my banishment the stars freed me from my stone prison. I was free to take Equestria. I had been watching Celestia over the years. She had sent her star student, Twilight Sparkle, to Ponyville to stop me. It was the Summer Sun Celebration, to commemorate Celestia's work, specifically the one thousandth anniversary of my banishment. That fueled my anger.

"Twilight and five friends renewed the Elements of Harmony. Her pupil had created the spark despite my best efforts. They stripped me of my powers and I was restored. I was a filly again. I repented of my past rebellion, and Celestia miraculously forgave me. That's really all there is to say."

The sun was now rising in the east from Canterlot. "I have a question." Amber looked up at her older sister. "How come you talk all medieval around Celestia?"

Luna laughed. "I find it easier, but Celestia is the only one who understands what I'm saying. Language has a tendency to change over a thousand years."

The sisters watched the sun rise together. Luna was no longer resentful of its beauty and light, but she said that it hurt her eyes, even at this early stage. "We had better hurry to Twilight's house. Come on, I'll race you!"

Amber wrinkled her nose in confusion. Race? They hadn't raced in years. But when Luna began running Amber couldn't resist the challenge.

* * *

Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes to a new day. She smiled with pure delight and looked over at a baby dragon sleeping in a basket. "Come on, Spike, it's already 7:00 in the morning. That means that we have thirteen hours left to spend. I already have my schedule planned out."

Spike blinked sleepily and stretched. He scratched his scales and blinked again. "Twi, you need to loosen up a bit. Do you really have to plan out every day of your life?"

"Of course. How else would I know what to do when?" Twilight picked up her schedule. "For example this afternoon I will go to Sugar Cube Corner from 1:00-2:30. How would I have known that if I hadn't had my schedule?" The purple mare grinned in triumph. She loved being right.

"I don't know, make the occasional spontaneous impulse?" The dragon grumbled. He had been up late the night before after eating an entire tub of ice cream. "Besides, didn't you decide not to make any more agendas?"

Twilight had not actually promised that, just no more late night pacing. "Spontaneous impulse? That could lead to disaster! If I didn't have everything planned who knows what could go wrong?" Twilight's eyes widened in horror and slight confusion. "How do you do that anyway?"

Spike gave her an irritated look. "Observe." He pasted a ridiculously happy grin on his face. "Hmm, it's a lovely day out. I think I will go sit on the porch until I feel like eating breakfast." He opened the door. Nothing had gone wrong as of yet. He walked outside the door, turned around to face Twilight, and grinned. "And now I think I will tap dance." Actually, he was quite good at it. He didn't fall off the porch. So far so good. "You see Twi, nothing bad happened. I just made a spontaneous-"

_**"Twilight Sparkle! Thou art awake!"**_

The force of Luna's Royal Canterlot Voice blew him backwards into the house, slamming him into Twilight. "Let me see that schedule." He groaned.

_**"It is good to see you once again, dear friend!"**_

Luna rushed into the house and tackled Twilight. "I mean, it's good to see you." She blushed. In her excitement she had reverted back to what had given the ponies their first impression. A tall, annoyed looking zebra in a cloak followed behind her begging her not to use "the voice."

"Yeah, well, good to see you too, Luna. Who's your friend?"

"Come on, sister." Luna encouraged the stranger. "You've nothing to hide." The zebra stepped forward and pulled her cloak off with her teeth to reveal a strange sight. A winged zebra. Twilight had never seen a pony that tall, and by an adult age they invariably had found their special talent. Twilight's mind immediately began forming questions. What was she? Was she some new breed? Where was she from? Was she from the place that Zecora had come from? But before she could ask any questions, Luna yawned and interrupted her thoughts. "Excuse me, but if thou- I mean you do not mind, might I depart? The sun has finished rising and I grow tired."

Twilight smiled and gave her assent. Luna took off through the window and left them in peace. The zebra commented that she seemed to enjoy going through windows; it was the second time she had seen her do that.

"So, what's your name?" Twilight laid her first question down.

"Amber."

"How old are you?" Twilight realized her breach of etiquette too late, but the stranger took no offense.

"Very." Amber shrugged.

"And yet you are not a Princess?"

"Not anymore." The zebra kept any emotion out of her voice.

"What were you in charge of?"

"War."

"Can you tell me any more than that?" For a princess Amber wasn't particularly talkative.

"I could, but not now."

For once, the librarian couldn't even think up any more questions. She just sat and stared at the newcomer, which made Amber very uneasy. Would Twilight hate her after all she had said? She had wanted a home so badly. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be. Only a fool would welcome war into their home. Perhaps Discord would do that, and they were sworn enemies.

The dragon walked in carrying a tray with two bowls of soup and two sandwiches. Maybe the pony was a fool! Dragons were dangerous. This one was only a baby in a… lacy pink apron? Never mind that, he would grow up someday and he would be a killer. "Twilight! I brought you lunch." He called. He didn't sound evil like the ones she had met, but it was probably all a disguise. He had fooled the one she might call a friend! She charged him, her mind going back to the Dark Days of Equestria.


	2. I'm underground, I fell down

**Chapter 2**

"Agh! Twi? I think your friend here is a little, um, angry for no reason! Help!" Spike was running for his life.

"That's a lie!" Amber was in hot pursuit. "You welcomed this creature into your home? He is a dragon; they are no good! He will grow, and he will eat you. I'm trying to protect you."

"I don't know what's she's talking about! All I eat is gems, honest!" Spike cried. The dragon was cornered.

Twilight's eyes widened in horror and tried to pull Amber back by her tail. "What do you think you're doing? I know Spike; he's not like other dragons!"

"Heya Twilight! Ooh! Are we playing a game?" A familiar voice chimed. Twilight hadn't heard her come in, but right now that didn't matter.

"Pinkie Pie! Help me pull her off Spike!" Twilight continued tugging to no avail. The combined force of the two mares finally won over and Spike was free. His first course of action was to run up to his room and slam the door shut behind him.

"Let go of me! He's getting away!" Amber ran in place, still held down. Surely her tail wouldn't hold up under this much strain.

"Stop it. Now." Twilight commanded. Her voice had a dangerous edge to it that even the former Princess of War could recognize and respect. Amber stopped trying to escape, or at least didn't try nearly as hard. "Sit down. We need to talk this out."

"Who is the pink one?" Amber panted. "Why is she here?"

"Silly! It's Twilight's one year and seven month anniversary!"

Twilight gave her a confused look. "What are we celebrating?"

The pink earth pony giggled. "Don't you remember? You came to Ponyville a year and seven months ago, and that's when we unlocked the Elements of Harmony," She giggled again, "Wasn't that great?"

Amber was still exhausted from fighting to get at Spike. "You fight well, Pinkie Pie," Amber gasped. "But on the wrong side. Dragons are evil."

"And now we're back to square one." Twilight continued holding Amber down, though it wasn't actually necessary. "Which is where we're supposed to be anyway. Pinkie, would you mind sticking around? I think you need to get to know Amber."

"Ooh! I love making new friends! Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, and I know everybody here in Ponyville, except for you! You must be new! What's your name?"

"Amber, tell Pinkie Pie who you are." Twilight commanded.

"Who I am, or who I was?" Amber fixated her eyes on the ground.

Twilight was not in the mood to give a long answer. "Both."

"I was Princess Amber Sands. I used to be the Princess of War." Amber didn't look up. "Now I'm just Amber. I've done terrible things and that's really all you need to know."

"Nice to meet'cha, Amber!"

"And why did you attack Spike?" Twilight demanded.

Amber's eyes lit up a little. "Because he's a dragon, and all dragons are-"

"Evil, yeah, you made that point earlier. But besides that?"

"I was trying to protect you." Amber's ears began to droop a little. In Twilight's mind she was starting to act like a filly that had been scolded. "I thought you would hate me after knowing my past, so I also wanted you to like me for caring about you."

Twilight softened. Amber was from the edges of Equestria. She probably hadn't met a single good creature for years besides the occasional colt or filly that had gone wandering too far. "You didn't tell me that much, actually. Amber, Equestria is different when you get deeper into the borders. You can't judge if anybody is good or bad by what they are. You have to get to know them before you judge them. I hatched Spike myself, and he isn't a regular dragon. I kind of think he was created by a spell. He doesn't even have any wings. Spike is sort of my assistant. He helps me around the house. I already know he's not evil." Her cutie mark should have been a podium; it seemed that her special talent might be lecturing. Her face lit up. "I can put that in my next letter to Celestia! Would you mind?"

Amber shook her head. Now her sister had a pen pal? "So… do you hate me?"

Twilight laughed. "No, Discord could do that to anybody. You've spent too much time on the borders."

Pinkie Pie shook her head in confusion. "Whoa, hold up a second. So now I know your name, and who you used to be, but I'm kind of missing the middle part! It's probably pretty important. Like, what happened? Why isn't she Princess anymore? How come she doesn't have a special talent if she's a princess? And why-"

Twilight stuffed her uneaten sandwich in the earth pony's mouth. "Questions later. She just got here, Pinkie, couldn't you be a little bit more polite?"

"Thowwy." She mumbled around the food. "I'm juth curiouth. Tho, why are you here?"

"Can I tell you later? I've had a really long day." Amber interposed. She liked the mare, but she really was tired.

"Ith onwy noon." Pinkie swallowed the sandwich.

"Well…" Amber gave Twilight a pleading look.

"She'll tell you along with everyone else. Later." The purple mare came to her aid.

"Okie dokie lokie!" She chirped and bounced out the door. If the pair had been listening they would have heard the delighted gasp signifying that Pinkie had a plan for a party.

Amber watched her go and threw her cloak on her back again. She had not appreciated Pinkie's question about her cutie mark. "I guess I like her. She's nice enough, I mean." She commented. "So, what are your other friends like?"

Twilight smiled. Amber was becoming more social by the hour. "Well, you just saw Pinkie Pie; she's the best pony you could trust to find a reason to throw a party. Did Luna explain the Elements of Harmony to you?"

"Well, she mentioned the ancient stones anyway. I already know what they are, but perhaps something has changed since I've been here."

Twilight smiled. At least somepony around here appreciated history. She explained how they had been used in the past millennium, and how Luna and Celestia were now severed from their powers. In her zone, she went on to explain how she and her friends had come by the treasures, and how they had been used, and why they were not stones anymore but jewels. Amber listened raptly to every word.

When Twilight finished, Amber cocked her eyebrow. "You mentioned six elements. Everybody knows there are only five. Magic isn't an element, it never has been. Don't lie to me, I hate lies."

"Well, I've yet to meet a pony who liked bein' tricked," An orange pony drawled.

Twilight turned around, surprised. "Applejack? What are you doing here?"

"Surprise! It's later!" A chirpy voice announced.

"Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed. How long could it have possible been? She glanced out her window. The sun was nearly finished setting. She had really rambled when she began lecturing. "You haven't even had time to plan the party," A thought struck her. "Have you?"

Pinkie Pie giggled and bounced in through the door, followed by her four closest friends. "Did you really forget about my party cannon?" She fired it at a coffee table, turning it into a party table with decorations and a board game. "Silly, all I had to do was announce it to all of Ponyville! Everypony wanted to come! Well of course they did! It's a party, who wouldn't want to come? And now Amber has lots and lots of friends!"

A swarm of ponies followed through the door, to Twilight's horror. It wasn't that she minded all the ponies coming to her library, she was afraid that Amber would be intimidated by all the new faces. She had spent so much time at the borders she probably hadn't seen many friendly faces. Her natural instinct would probably to label them as enemies. She turned to Amber. "Listen, whatever you do, don't attack them. They're not enemies, or changelings, so don't worry."

Amber's sides were heaving, her eyes wide. The pink pony's return had startled her. Not that she minded the pink one's presence, but she had brought a mob of ponies with her. The library was growing crowded, every inch of space was being used. She could have sworn that she had seen two of the same pony, but perhaps it was her imagination. Twilight said something to her, but she couldn't hear what she had said.

Amber backed towards the stairs and walked two steps up. There was more air up there, she could breathe now. Two ponies, one cream colored and the other sea-foam green, noticed her moving and walked up the stairs.

"Hi, I'm Lyra, and this is my best friend Bonbon. Are you Amber?" The green one asked.

Amber backed farther up the stairs, stumbling over a few that she couldn't see. "Oh, uh, yes, that's me. Uh," She glanced behind her back. Twilight had left her window open to let air in and out. "Yeah, it's nice to meet you, Lyra, but uh," Her eyes widened as another wave of ponies came in through the door. "I really need to go now."

"How come? I thought this was a meet-and-greet so you could-"

"Thanks, but I really need to go right now!" Amber whipped around and bolted the next few stairs when a grey pegasus offered her a home-made muffin. When Amber jumped and began flying out of the crowd the pegasus pursued her, insisting that they were excellent if she would just try one. As Amber dashed away the pegasus muttered something about, "Just don't know what went wrong."

Finally she was free of the remaining stairs. There were just so many ponies in one confined place. And they just wouldn't leave her alone! Yet another approached her, but this time Amber didn't even take the time to notice what he looked like. Her breaths came in short, ragged gasps now, and her pupils had dilated smaller than a pin. Sweat beaded on her forehead. She had to get out. Now.

Out of the corner of her eye Amber saw that the window was open. She seized the opportunity before her and flew to it, Amber only noticed that the window was not open, but only halfway open, too late. She spread her wings and soared through the window, breaking the glass and cracking her skull. She forced herself not to scream in pain and flew onward.

Amber felt the wind flowing over her wings, stinging the cuts from the glass, but it was nearly drowned out by the throbbing pain in her head. It had only been a small crack, not much more than a particularly bad headache, but it dominated her entire will. She could only fly for so much longer before she crashed.

She squinted her eyes, trying to find a decent landing spot, but a rivulet of blood trickled into her eyes, blinding her. She flew around recklessly hoping that when she collapsed she would land on something soft.

No such luck. Her left wing struck against a cliff, sending her tumbling away from the precipice with a sickening crack. She began tumbling down the side of the rocky height, worsening the lacerations on her body.

* * *

Amber looked at the computer screen with dismay. "Was I really that bad of a drama queen?" She asked.

"Hey, I write what you say. Don't blame me." I raised my hands in a sign of defeat. I turned my face to the computer screen. "Excuse us, Amber seems to have been summoned from my brain into our world. As such, I thought it would be best for us to hear her story in her words."

Amber looked over my laptop. "Uh, who are you talking to?"

"The readers of course."

Her eyes widened in horror. "You're telling me that there are people you trapped in there just to read my story? You're terrible!"

I groaned. I had been trying to explain to her the concept of the internet, but apparantly that was the one thing that ponies don't have. "It's magic." I decided to try that angle.

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

"Never mind. So, are we going to respond to our reviewer?"

Amber looked at the keyboard with awe. "Can I try?" She begged.

I sighed. "Okay, just let me explain. You see that square with the M on it? Press it.

"Harder than that."m,,,,,,nklnjmhumkilnmlnm,.

"That's not... bad. But it has to start with a capital.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

"Why don't you let me do it?" I asked her.

My creation flared her wings and glared at me. "Because you don't write what I say and- have you been recording this whole conversation?"

"Well, yeah."

"Let me read the story." She knocked me out of my chair and read the story. "That's not how I said that, or that, definately not that, and when did that happen?"

"Creative license?"

She shoved me out the door. "Forget it, I'll get a unicorn to help."

"Wait, you can summon a unicorn out of my head too?"

She sighed and pushed me back in. "Touche."

I sat down and read our review to Amber.

"Ahe-he-he-hem!" She cleared her throat. "First of all, the grand queen's name is Lumina. Don't insult her, for your sake. I have seen her wrath." She shuddered. "That didn't end well. And has it really been a millinia? It felt like longer. Oh well. Celestia doesn't schedule events like the Summer Sun Celebration, I think that was courtesy of her butlers. Yes, plural. I don't know why in Equestria she needs twenty-nine, but I guess that's her business."

"See, was that so bad?" I smiled at her. Then an idea struck my ever ADD mind. "I know!" I shouted.

"What do you know?" Amber asked, alarmed at my sudden mood swing from smug to inspired.

"We can have the readers vote on who we can have help you respond to reviewers! This week's contestants can be Twilight and Fluttershy."

Amber flattened her ears. "Your idea stinks, and so do you." She kicked the laptop out of my hands.

"Great. Now I'll have to wait until after finals week to update."

Everypony who reviews gets a response from Amber! I'm going to try to update every week, but next week I'll be taking my laptop in for repairs thanks to somepony kicking it to pieces. So, who should be Amber's next partner?


	3. I'm freaking out, Where am I now?

**Chapter 3**

"Ugh! Fluttershy, come on! We're already late!" A cyan pegasus complained. She had been kept waiting for an extra hour. If there was a party, she had promised Pinkie she would be there.

"Sorry, Rainbow, I hate to keep you waiting, but this really can't wait." The other pegasus reminded her friend.

"That's what you say every time." Rainbow Dash groused.

"And I mean it every time," Fluttershy tone was firm and (dare I say?) assertive.

"Yeah, I know. I just wish we could hurry this up, we're already late if you haven't noticed." Rainbow Dash was famous for her speed, not her patience.

After perhaps ten more minutes of similar conversation the pair finally left, Fluttershy's saddlebag strapped across her side.

"I really am sorry, Dash, but you know how much I hate leaving my cottage when some poor little animal is sick." Said Fluttershy.

Dash sighed. "Yeah, well. Let's hope there's some cake left. If we hurry, we can catch Twilight. I've been wanting to ask her if I could borrow the next Daring Do book. The author leaves you with these terrible cliff hangers and I've been barely getting any sleep I've been so nervous." She accelerated sharply at the thought of the next Daring Do book waiting for her to read it.

"Rainbow Dash! Wait up!" Fluttershy cried. "I can't fly fast like you! Wait!"

Rainbow Dash came to a complete stop, hovering several feet over the ground, her ears pricked forward in attention. "Hang on a sec, Shy. I thought I heard something."

Her friend caught up and fluttered next to her. She perked her ears and listened expectantly. After a moment she shook her head. "I didn't hear anything. What did it sound like?"

Rainbow Dash considered for a minute. "Like somepony crashing a long ways off. It was west, a little less than a mile, over in the White Tail Woods. Come on, let's go!" She took off without looking back to see if Fluttershy had decided to follow. If she had she would have seen a yellow pegasus pony flying as hard as she could, protesting, "Wait! We don't even know if you heard it! We'll miss the party! Pinkie hates it when we're late, but it drives her crazy if we don't show up at all!"

Rainbow Dash flew on, the night's anticipated festivities forgotten. "If you want to go that badly, you can go, but I need to check this out." She glanced back again. "So are you coming or not?"

Fluttershy slowed down for a moment or two, torn between an unknown sound that possibly didn't exist, and going to Pinkie's party alone to explain that Rainbow Dash had been chasing phantom noises rather than going to the party. Pinkie would probably understand, but if she didn't then Fluttershy hated to let her down and break the news. "Wait for me! I'm coming!" She finally said and sped up to try to catch her athletic friend.

* * *

Amber woke up laying on the ground. She groaned and blinked. The world was blurred and smeared, like when somepony spilled water on a painting. Everything she saw was in various tones of grey because it was so dark. Luna had raised the moon and stars as she had every night before, but clouds obscured them from sight. Amber idly wondered why the weather pegasi hadn't cleared them. It cast a gloomy undertone to everything.

Her wing ached with a fury. She raised it and gave it an experimental flap. Instantly she regretted it. Sharp pain coursed through the limb and she groaned in spite of herself. Evidently she had broken it. "Everything breaks." She grumbled. "First my head and now my wing. Why don't I just break my neck too?" She glanced around quickly. "I didn't really mean that!" She added hastily.

The pain in her head had lessened to a dull ache, but it was still very strong. She began to assess her overall damage, but then decided that it would be ill-advised. If she counted every injury the pain would become unbearable.

Hesitantly she wobbled to her feet and took in her surroundings. She was in a forest, but not one she knew. The trees were tall and noble, but shady and gloomy in the dark. Nothing else for it but to walk and hope I find my way out. She thought. The shadows didn't spook her so much as what was lurking in the shadows. Normally a Timber Wolf or two wouldn't have been a problem on her own, but she was used to having a team watch her back in combat. About twenty unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies had accompanied her in her duties as Princess. One of them she had fallen in love with to her own surprise. Camelot. An odd name, and a perhaps even more eccentric pony, but he was her Shining Armor.

She limped forward slowly, trying not to look at the trees. In spite of her best efforts her eyes wandered and the trees were unavoidable. The forest was coated in what would be vivid shades of red, orange, and yellow in the daylight. During Luna's time they were coated in a blue tint, and the tones were duller, but still beautiful. It was almost time for the annual Running of the Leaves. The moon lit the way with its pale, white light. Spooky to say the least. Beautiful, but spooky.

She stumbled a couple of times. The third time, she tripped and fell on her face and didn't bother getting up. The moss was cool, comforting even. It soaked up the blood flowing from a deep cut she hadn't noticed earlier. Her eyes fluttered shut and she sank into a deep sleep.

But her sleep was not a restful one. Even in sleep memories would plague her, but more vividly, and in a far more ghoulish way. And tonight she would relive one of her most hated memories.

* * *

It was her first village. Complete desolation surrounded her as she took in the damage. Buildings were brought down to the ground, ponies were strewn haphazardly, either dead or dying. One in particular caught her attention.

"Small one!" The filly she had addressed looked up. One of her eyes was missing, and she didn't have much longer to live. Her one eye widened and she cringed as she saw who had spoken to her.

"Am I right in believing that I saved you at a time? Your name is Pollen, is it not?" The filly nodded weakly. Amber smiled sadistically. "May you die knowing that in telling me where you lived and by trusting me so blindly you have brought this upon your own weak, foolish kind." Amber turned her back, not caring if Flower had listened or not.

She stumbled over one body, tripping over the next. She landed in a pool of blood, though not her own. She wiped the blood off her eyes with her hoof, simply irritated by the delay. What a sight she must have been, a warrior princess, blood dripping from her helmit equipped with a sharp horn, iron hoof guards turned red with rust. Her mane flickered like fire, and her coat was stained red from the blood of the ponies she had once protected. Soon she would make her way to Canterlot and take the throne as her own. She was the eldest, did that not count for anything?

* * *

"No!" She mumbled. "NO!" She tossed painfully in her induced slumber. The motion worsened her wounds but was still not enough to break the cycle. Every night it was the same thing. She feared sleep and the nightmares that were guaranteed. She rarely slept, only enough that she wouldn't give the impression that she was weak. The nightmares would never end, not until the day she died.

* * *

"Hey Fluttershy, are you sure this will work? That isn't very many bandages." Amber slowly opened her eye halfway to see a blurry blue blob with a multicolored top. After blinking a few more times the blob shaped into a pony with a rainbow mane.

"Of course it'll work, Rainbow Dash." A soft voice replied to the strange question. "I've already splinted her wing. It's a good thing I thought to bring my bag with me. I'm not sure what we'd do."

_"DO!"_ Rainbow Dash bounced excitedly. "That's it! In Daring Do and the First Crusader she was in this exact same situation. A prince was hurt and lying on the ground, so she splinted his wing and put bandages on his cuts. Then she made a quick fly over and found the nearest town and flew the prince to the medics." She clapped her hooves excitedly. "This will totally work! Come on, Fluttershy, you go ahead and tell somepony that we found her while I bring her over!" She trotted over to Amber. "Oh hay, you're awake. I'm going to fly you over to Ponyville, okay?"

Without waiting for a response she began tugging on the pegasus's forelegs, flapping her wings as hard as she could. Amber winced as the pegasus jarred her broken wing. The zebra was raised about two feet off the ground before dropping again. Rainbow Dash panted for breath. "That's okay, maybe the tail works better." She grabbed Amber's tail in her jaws and tried again.

"_Ouch_!" Amber glared at her self-proclaimed rescue team. "Knock it off, will you?"

Rainbow Dash's face fell. "I don't get it, it worked fine in the book."

"Creative license." Amber growled. She was lost, in pain, just roused from a nightmare, and wasn't in any particular mood to deal with a fanfilly. "This is the real world, and-" She stood up. "I can walk."

Fluttershy stood awkwardly to the side, not sure if she should try to join the conversation or not. "Well, I suppose that's a relief, you know, since we can walk to Ponyville."

"Yeah, I guess I could fly up over the treetops and show you guys how to get there." Rainbow sighed. "Really slowly." Of course if you can perform a Sonic Rainboom on command just about any pace seems slow.

The group began its slow journey back to Golden Oaks Library. The moon glided through the stars like a lone swan on a silver lake. Amber trudged along the path with Fluttershy while Rainbow Dash flew a feet above the ground. They didn't say anything but kept their eyes on the sky to see the morning sun as it began its daily ascent. It was about mid-morning by the time they were back in town. Needless to say the welcoming party had quickly turned into a search party in their absence. What they hadn't expected was Princess Celestia being a member.

Celestia did not appear surprised to see Amber walking back, but she didn't seem especially angry or happy either. "We need to talk." She turned her back and walked into Twilight's library. Amber sighed inwardly. Celestia did not seem to be in the mood for friendly conversation. Wordlessly, she followed and shut the door behind her, ignoring the stunned looks from the bystanders. The last time Celestia had said those words and entered the library, circumstances had not been good for Twilight. Most of them were still in the dark as to exactly what had happened.

"Why did you run away?" Celestia cut to the chase. "Twilight was reluctant to make friends, but she didn't run from her troubles quite so quickly."

Amber looked down at the hardwood floor and began counting the knotholes. She had counted to thirty-five before realizing that Celestia was still waiting for an answer. She didn't look up. "I was afraid."

Celestia looked surprised, but the corners of her mouth quirked upwards in a smirk. "Amber, the guardian of the Changeling Schism, was afraid? Afraid of what? Making friends?"

Amber shook her head. "No, I wasn't scared of all the ponies. I have-" Her voice trailed off and she mumbled.

"You have what?" Celestia put her head on her hooves in a listening posture. "Do tell."

Amber mumbled again.

"Didn't quite catch that." She teased.

Amber growled. "I have claustrophobia, okay?" She growled between her clenched teeth. "I got scared because I felt trapped. I should be used to feeling trapped, but usually somebody has my back and I didn't know how to deal with it so I jumped through the window and now I have a splitting headache and I can't close my wing and I think I broke it." Amber snapped. "Can I go now? I'm not in the mood for a lecture about how I need to face my fears."

Celestia apologised. "I'll escort you to the hospital," she offered.

"No thanks." Amber grimaced. "I can walk myself." She promptly lost consciousness from pain and exhaustion. Celestia smiled, levitated her, and took her to the doctors.

* * *

**A/N: It's late, but it's here! Sorry about the delay and the lack of a response to reviewers. Last week finals kept me busy and this week Christmas preparations have been nonstop. I promise an extra good response next chapter ;)**


	4. Upside Down, I can't stop this now

**Chapter 4**

Amber opened her eyes to find herself in a dark, murky void. Hesitantly, she rose to her feet. She heard wispy voice murmuring something. _Hello?_ She called._ Is anypony there?_ But no sound came from her throat that she could hear. She tried again, but a deafening silence was her only reply. She shuddered at the eeriness of the dark nothingness.

"I trust you will make our tribe proud." A male voice sounded to her right, but it sounded muffled, as though the stallion was behind a wall. But it was impossible! Amber knew the voice better than her own.

_Father?_ She turned to see a tall, powerful zebra a few feet away. Her face lit up, though she still could not hear her own voice, and she ran towards him. Only, no matter how hard and fast she ran, her father always was a few feet away. Another zebra, this one with wings, sat at his feet as he strapped the bark armor to her sides. She was barely an adult, but old enough to earn her keep among her people at the time. And the time was over a thousand years ago, for Amber recognized the filly as herself going to earn her keep slaying the foes that beat at their doors. She was going in her father's stead because he was injured.

Amber ran harder towards the memory, but never came any nearer. The scene dissolved into the mist surrounding her. "I trust you," Terra's voice came down to Amber's left ear. "With the safety of my kingdom." Amber turned to see herself, a little older and more battle-worn, but still eager to serve on the defense. Amber tried to break into the memory to stop her, hoping to undo the past, but it was a memory just like the last, and it dissolved into smoke just like the last. Amber was panting now.

A tan stallion with a black mane appeared right in front of her. "Amber," He said to her. "I trust you with my life and love." And even though she knew it would fail, she tried to run to him. Like all the others, he became one with the blackness.

One last apparition appeared, a happy filly with innocent violet eyes. "I trust you." Amber waited for more, but nothing more came. The filly just sat there, waiting to be lead home. Always smiling, always waiting. Amber ran her hardest. Perhaps it was guilt because of what she knew would come later, or maybe she just wanted to help her. Pollen. That was her name. But as Amber recalled her name Pollen turned her back. When she faced her again she looked almost entirely different. Blood streaked her mane and face and one of her eyes was missing. Her innocent eye were bloodshot from tears, and was resentful and angry. But her voice was still the same. "I trusted you." She said as her body disintegrated, leaving only the ruined face of the child. No longer innocent, but now reproachful.

The face of her father appeared next, only this time he was much closer. His eyes were filled with disappointment as he glared at her. "I trusted you."

Amber backed away, but like before she was powerless to change their distance. "I trusted you." Terra's voice rang clear in the misty void. Her head appeared behind Amber, her royal face was clouded with rage. _No!_ Amber shouted, but like before it was as if she was not a part of this world of phantoms and was powerless to change anything. This was the world of her past.

The head of Camelot appeared to her other side. He didn't say a word, he just gave her a look that said more than words ever could. It was only hurt. Not sad. Not angry. Just hurt. Amber felt a tear welling up as the guilt washed over her. She hadn't been able to save him. There was nothing left but a memory.

"I trusted you." Pollen repeated.

"Make our tribe proud."

"The safety of our kingdom."

"My life and love."

Amber ran away from the fear building up in her chest, succeeding this time though she didn't know why._ Stop it!_ She sobbed. But while she was escaping from their disapproving faces, she couldn't run away from the guilt. A fire was chasing her, always growing closer, and another was quickly approaching her. "No!" She dimly realized she could hear her voice now. A tree branch landed on her, but where it had come from she never knew. She only knew that she was pinned, and the fires of guilt were growing ever nearer. Tears ran down her face. "I'm sorry." She sobbed. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

A final spirit came before her. "This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't let them trust you." Its voice sang.

"Discord." She growled and looked up. The spirit's grin grew larger, like a Cheshire Cat's.

"That's me." He smirked. "But this, oh no, this wasn't me or my doing." He leered as she sobbed into her hooves. "It was all you. Who knew that so much chaos can come from one pony? Aw, chin up. You should be proud, you know. This is a major accomplishment by my standards."

Amber sniffed. "This isn't real." Discord began to fade. "It's- it's a dream." The mists began to draw back and a slit of light appeared in the distance. "I'm waking up now." She realized. It was almost over. Hope sparked in her heart, but the guilt was very real and was there to stay. The light grew stronger and flooded the dream and then she was free.

* * *

The first thing she noticed was that she had awoken in a cold sweat. The tree branch from the dream was a leather strap pinning her to a hospital bed. "Ma'am?" A concerned earth pony stood in a corner. "Are you alright, ma'am?" He asked. "You were thrashing in your sleep, so I strapped you down so you wouldn't hurt yourself." He explained, seeing her confused expression. "Night terrors are a common side effect of the medicines we use as anesthetics."

"Unh. Okay." She grunted. The thing was, night terrors always started with what was already in one's head, whether it was fear, shame, or guilt. The dreams were always based in reality, however thin the thread connecting them might be. Nothing could enter the mind that wasn't admitted. Perhaps dreams were fake, but they were not altogether a lie.

"My name is Doctor Stable," The doctor broke into her contemplations. "If you ever need anything, give me a call." He left the room to attend to another patient who was in the middle of brain surgery._ Let's hope Pinkie doesn't throw another party._ He thought._ I can't stand to miss them for some reason. It's like I'm compelled by some force._ He shook his head._ Blast that girl. Her tomfoolery will be the death of somepony and I won't be held responsible._

Amber squirmed out of the strap and got out of bed to use the toilet. After conducting her business she assessed her appearance in the small mirror on the wall. Her eyes were bloodshot and had large bags underneath them (the medically induced sleep had been far from restful), and a deep cut down her nose had been stitched. She hadn't noticed the cut earlier because her wing had hurt too much to notice anything else. She turned around to inspect her wing and found it in the condition she had expected: bound in a cast. Amber sighed in resignation. There wasn't anypony to cast a healing spell on her wing. Amber sank back down on the stark white linen sheets, lost in memories.

* * *

Camelot had had a very specific skills set magic wise. He could cast a healing spell on anypony's wound and it would always succeed. Ponies weren't born with the ability to cast spells like that anymore. Technology had evolved to solve the problem and his spells were no longer necessary. Then again, he lived on the borders and his spells were more often useful than ignored. The only pony he couldn't heal was himself. When he was wounded, he was out of commission for at least a week.

And then one day he left. Nopony could explain it, the wound wasn't worse than usual. He went to bed one night and in the morning he was gone. He left behind his old, favorite cloak for Amber and a note: _I'm sorry. I've just had enough._

Amber had been stunned, as if a changeling had clubbed her head with it's hard legs. Her soldiers had crowded around to see the note, but she hid it inside her tent. "It doesn't matter." She had snapped at her lieutenant. "He's made his choice." She went inside the tent where she was assured solitude. Amber read and reread the letter and sighed. "I hope he's happy with it."

* * *

Amber curled up in a striped ball under a tent made of sheets and sniffed. She had sent her children away the day they were weaned. The battle field was no place for an infant. Perhaps it was no wonder Celestia said that Blue Blood had turned into an arrogant snot. He probably felt betrayed. Inwardly she resolved to speak with him if she ever got the chance.

Cadence, on the other hoof, was a gem. Or at least she had seemed so for the first months of her life. Amber roughly wiped her nose, angry with herself. She was made of tougher stuff than this. She was a warrior princess, literally. In all the tales she had been told as a filly the hero had never cried. He ignored his wounds and pressed on, despite the odds and pain. He never gave in.

But then... she was also a mother and would have liked nothing better than to raise her own foals in peace and safety. That was natural, right? But she also wanted what was best for her own foals too. Natural? Most likely. But it did not feel right to just give birth, nurse the foals, and then hand them on to an old friend. That wasn't natural or right.

Amber rolled onto her side and stuffed a pillow over her ear to try and stop the conflicting emotions from entering her mind. There should only be one way she felt about something, two did not fit in with the rest of nature.

But then, she didn't fit in with the rest of nature. She was larger than most ponies, she was a zebra and yet had wings, and stranger yet she had no cutie mark. Nothing about her was special except that she was a freak of nature. Amber groaned. Perhaps the dream world had been an improvement. At least there she had only felt guilt. The real world was complex and unfathomable.

Eventually the need for rest won the battle over her restless emotions and Amber was lulled into a shallow slumber.

* * *

**Response time!**

I turned to the computer screen. "Well, hello everybody who's reading this, and welcome to the response to reviews section of our show! Would you welcome our newest guest, Fluttershy!"

"She's doing it again." Amber muttered to Fluttershy.

I rolled her eyes at Amber. "What do you hold against a little friendly fourth-wall breaking?"

Amber rolled her eyes back. "Well, for starts you have yet to break anything. All you've done is talk to the computer screen."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Never mind. Let's just get this over with." My creations had a habit of becoming a pain in the butt quickly. "Fluttershy, you're being pretty quiet. Why don't you read the reviews to Amber?"

I had summoned Fluttershy out of my head via some form of magic I seriously don't get. I quit trying to understand a long time ago. You just don't question these things.

The yellow pegasus cleared her throat. "Cloudchaser the Unicorn says: This is amazing! I'm hooked already, it's rare we find a non Mary-Su OC on this site. Although you're descriptions could use a tad bit of work, your grammar was flawless and the storyline seems exciting and fun. Although the main thing I would focus on is trying to slow down and focus on the emotion of Amber. She's going through a lot, and I'm assuming her emotions and her controll over them will be a big part of the story. If not, then ignore the past critisism. Hope to hear more soon!

"Well that certainly was nice of him." Fluttershy commented. "I guess it does help having Kai fix your grammer."

"I ain't got no grammar problem, don't know what you talkin' bout." Amber convinced me not to edit that line. Yes, she did drive Twilight insane. I left that part out. Language and such, mind the children. "Who's next?"

I abridged That Gamer's response for the sake of time. The fourth wall only says open so long. "Um, what's a Hammerskin?"

Amber's eyes widened and she searched for an explanation. "Oh, uh, it's when a pony gets a lot of, uh, piercings, yeah! And they use earings that all have hammers." Amber mumbled. "Moving on! Next! Cloudchaser the Unicorn liked my last chapter, but he wishes I would slow down and talk about my emotions. Heh," She looked up at the laptop. "Guess I'll give this fourth wall breaking a try." She cleared her throat. "HOPEFULLY THIS VOLUME WILL BE ENOUGH TO SHATTER THE WALL OF GLASS!" In my corner I groaned. "WE HOPE WE HAVE SATISFIED YOU DESIRE FOR FEELS WITH THIS CHAPTER OF MY LIFE!" Amber smirked at the screen. Her face fell when she saw that all the glass within a mile range had been shattered except for the moniter.

Not surprisingly, Fluttershy was nowhere to be found. I sighed. Was there no way to conjur Amber back into my mind? "I'll get the broom." I sighed. "Amber, you just go do... something. Haven't you had enough bad experiences with glass yet?"

My creation shook the glass off her wings and flew into some cloud to brood over the things I made her do. "Yes, Gamer, I have changed a few things. Leaf and Farley might appear in some future fanfic with a better, more thought-out roll and Flower. You have no idea how hard it was to hide her in the closet when my mom almost found her. I don't know how she'd react to a living, breathing cartoon. Probably she'd be donated to science. I wouldn't wish that on her. I mean, yeah, she's annoying, but she's basically my baby."


	5. Can't stop me now

**Chapter 5**

Amber woke up the next day to find that the sun was almost half way across the sky. It had not been a bad night. It was one of those rare nights that she didn't have any dreams that she recalled. Come to think of it, she couldn't remember the last time she had slept so well. She yawned and stretched, momentarily forgetting that her wing was bound in a cast. Her mind felt blurry from the pain medication and she shook her head to try to clear it. She flinched when she tried to give an her wings an experimental flap.

"Oh my gosh! You're awake!" Pinkie Pie sprang to life from the chair she had been sitting in.

"Whu..." Amber mumbled, her mind still somewhat fuzzy. "How long?"

The other pony bounced on the tips of her hooves. "I've been watching you since yesterday! The doctor had this frowny face when I kept asking him if I could see you. I was asking him over and over again because I was so, so worried!"

Amber felt the fog clearing from her mind and blinked a little. "Worried about what?"

"Worried about you." Pinkie blinked as if it were obvious. "I felt so bad for throwing that party. I didn't know that you were nervous around lots of new ponies. I just thought you needed friends, and the best way to meet friends is at a party. But then you disappeared, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy never showed up, and the window was broken, and then I was super worried and-"

Amber gave a lopsided smile. "Hey, don't worry about me. I'm a tough old mare, I can handle myself."

Pinkie pouted. "Don't laugh. This isn't funny. I'm trying to apologize here."

Now Amber was confused. "Apologize for what?"

"For throwing the party. I didn't know you wouldn't like it, but that's not an excuse. I should have asked you if you wanted a party." She sighed and looked at the ground.

"It's alright, Pinkie. You didn't know. No hard feelings, okay?" Amber gave a lopsided smile.

"You mean," Pinkie looked up. "You're not mad at me and you still want to be my friend?"

Amber leaned back. "Yeah, pretty much." Then she stiffened. "Wait, have you seriously been awake and watching me all night?"

Pinkie smiled proudly. "Yup!"

"That's kind of creepy."

"Ah, good," A new voice broke in. "You're finally awake and- Wait a minute. What are you doing here!" He turned to Amber's friend. "I thought I said no visitors!"

Pinkie gave Amber an apologetic smile. "Gotta run!" She bolted out the door leaving a pink and magenta streak and a breeze that blew the doctor's papers to the ground.

The doctor growled irritably. "Honestly, after that last patient I don't think I can deal with anything else." He picked the paperwork up off the floor, grumbling to himself. "So, Amber, you're free to go." It sounded more like a command than a release. "We just have to give you this shot. Hopefully it will help you heal faster, though we're not entirely certain. You are not built the same as most other ponies."

"Uh huh, whatever." Amber wasn't in any mood to mince her words for the doctor's sake. "Just give me the shot, I am ready to go!"

"Alright then." The doctor sniffed. He jabbed the needle rather roughly into Amber's foreleg. "There, you can go now. Stay off that wing for three, no four weeks, understand me?" Amber nodded. "Then get out of my hospital." He barked and marched out the door.

* * *

Amber felt ready to leap for joy. She was finally free of this cramped, confined excuse for a hospital, free from the drugs that clouded her mind, and most importantly, free to eat actual food. What? Most ponies don't like eating squishy sandwiches, and Amber was no exception.

Joyfully, she stretched her good wing. It was a bit sore from disuse, but otherwise felt fine. The leg that the doctor had given her a shot in gave unusually sharp pangs when she walked, but she paid it no mind.

Outside the room, her friends were waiting for her. "Morning, sugarcube." Applejack drawled, yawning a little. "You hungry for breakfast, or is it lunch time now?" She yawned again. Amber briefly wondered why she was so tired, but brushed off her concern.

"I think it's almost noon." Twilight answered her friend. Her eyes had sizable bags underneath them. A loud buzzing sound came from the corner, and Amber tried to listen over it, or at least ignore it.

"How come you guys are so sleepy?" Amber asked.

"You can't sleep with Rainbow snoring like that," Applejack pointed to the source of the buzzing, which proved to be a certain blue pegasus sprawled out in a chair, snoring to her heart's content.

"Or with Pinkie trying to break into your room the entire night." Pinkie Pie slept much more peacefully in a different seat.

"Or when Fluttershy keeps remembering some little varmint she left back home that she can't possibly leave alone the whole night." Applejack gestured at a mound of bunnies, hedgehogs, badgers, and squirrels that Amber could only assume Fluttershy was underneath.

"Not to mention Twilight over here was spouting off facts about the Everfree Forest in her sleep. Some of them were a mite spooky so I woke her up a few times." Twilight smiled sheepishly. "And Rarity was fussing about us keeping her from getting her beauty sleep to boot."

"Well how can I be beautiful if I have puffy eyes?" Rarity called from her couch.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Try that pickle thing."

"They are cucumbers, not pickles!" Rarity snarled, grumpy after going all night with only a shallow sleep. "Do you realize what havoc pickles would wreak on anypony's complexion?"

Applejack rolled her eyes and turned back to Amber. "Anyway, you're our guest for the time. What can I do ya' for? Apple fritter, apple dumpling, apple pie," Her eyelids felt heavy. She started briefly. "Caramel apples, candy... um... Apples! That's it. That's what we Apples do. We grow," She yawned. "Apples..." She began snoring gently.

Amber smiled a little. "No big fuss, Applejack, honest. How about we all sleep at your home and just eat plain apples? Nothing fancy, just apples from the cellar."

* * *

After sleeping the afternoon away Amber left with Twilight. Spike had been alone all day and was probably worried sick.

"So I was thinking." Amber walked next to Twilight. "Do you happen to have my cloak at your house? I took it off before the party because I didn't think anypony would see my flank, but now if I'm going out in public I'd kind of like to wear it. You know, to hide my blank flank."

Twilight thought for a moment. "I might have it somewhere. Maybe it's still on that table. No wait, that's where I keep my ink bottles. There's no way I'd put something there. Oh, I remember now." She smiled sheepishly. "I didn't think you'd want it since it was Celestia's so I had Spike send it back. I didn't know you were using it to cover your flank."

Amber sighed. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. All she had to do was stay indoors for the rest of her life. Nothing too drastic, right?

"Sorry." Twilight blushed a pale pink. "I'll have Rarity make you a better one tomorrow."

"Thanks." Amber looked up, an eager spark in her eyes. "Or maybe I can find a way to earn my cutie mark!"

"Ugh! Not you too!" Twilight groaned. "Why is everypony obsessed with earning their cutie marks so quickly? I wasn't like this at their age, at least I don't think so!"

"Uh, Twilight?" Amber circled around to face her irritated friend. "Who are you talking about?"

Twilight smiled a little. "They call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders. It's kind of cute, really. They're three fillies, Applejack and Rarity's sisters and another one. You'll meet them sooner or later. They're all over the place with their antics. They're trying hard to earn their cutie marks." She explained.

"Well, I think they might be onto something." Amber looked happier than Twilight had ever seen her. "What's wrong with getting things done quicker? That way you can move on to your next mission in life."

"The problem is these things take time! You of all ponies should know. Nothing can make something like that come before it decides it's time. Not magic, not working, not falling out of trees! But they never listen."

"Well maybe I'm a different case. I don't know of anypony who has lost a cutie mark before." Amber pointed out, walking backwards.

"Well, what was your cutie mark before you lost it?"

Amber blushed. "I don't remember." She mumbled.

"Well, what was it for?" Twilight suggested.

Amber sighed and began walking behind Twilight so that her face could not be seen. "Skilled fighting." She mumbled.

"Well then, maybe that's where you should start looking."

Amber shook her head vigorously. "No. If anything I want to forget about fighting. Fighting got me into this mess, and I don't think it will do anything to get me out of it. Maybe I can find it in something different, like painting or maybe I'm good at cooking meals for other ponies."

Twilight turned around to look at Amber. "So basically you want to act contrary to your nature?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Since it's my nature that ruined my daughter's wedding, yes!" Amber snapped. "Not to mention murder countless innocents. And while we're at it, it also lead me to finding Discord." Amber shut her eyes tight to keep the tears from spilling out. "He doesn't change you. He doesn't warp your brain. No, by no means. He only suggests things, it's up to you to take them. And I took his suggestion and now look where it's landed everything. Evil everywhere I go. There's nothing good about my nature. I think it's high time I changed myself." Amber tripped over a root and splashed into a pool of mud. She shuddered. It was so horrifyingly familiar. She hardly dared to look up. When she did she was not happy with what she saw.

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or the chapter titles. Those are from Alice (Underground) which belongs to it's respective owner.

* * *

Okay, I'm going to try this. Putting the response to reviews before the chapter. That way I can kill you with suspense and cliffies. Also, updates will now be every other week because I'm writing another fanfic: Plan D. It's a birthday present for my brother ^_^

Also, if I ever just stop updating for more than a month, it's because my laptop has died and I don't want to ask for a new one.

* * *

I looked at my creation suspiciously. She was just sitting by my window doing nothing, which was highly unusual. Usually she was bouncing off the walls with boredom, complaining that I was taking too long with my homework. It was hard enough to keep her hidden from my family._Keep her secret, keep her safe._ I muttered to myself. What? Practicing quoting is a big part of being a nerd.

"Okay, what's up with you?" I asked her.

"What do you mean?" She looked up lethargically.

I sighed. "Well, normally you want my attention all day every day. Why is today any different?"

"Guess I'm too bored to care." Amber scanned the room. "Don't we have reviews to respond to or something?"

I narrowed my eyes. She hated responding to reviews. "Okay, I'll play along." I opened my laptop and cleared my throat. "Just one review this time. That Gamer says, 'iRECAP:"

Amber blinked. "Why is it one word?"

I gave her a baffled look. Was it possible that something from my own head was so culturally illiterate? "Have you ever heard of an iPod?" I asked, hedgingly. A blank expression was my only response. "I thought not. It's a music player made by Apple."

Amber gave me a resentful look. "What?" I asked.

"You never said there were other ponies here." She ruffled her wings irritably.

"Well, after Fluttershy disappeared I didn't think it would be a good idea." I snapped. "And Apple is a company. How could you not know that?"

"Well excuse me if I'm new here!"

"Ah, what better way to close out the year then with a new chapter of Loyalty Of Sand?... I dunno. And since that blasted wall can't stay open for too long, I'm gonna abridge my recap.

Amber has visions of her past in a dream!... Yeah."

"That happens a lot." Amber said to the laptop. My eyes widened. "What did I do this time?" She flattened her ears.

My mouth hung open. "That's the first time you've actually broken the fourth wall. I don't believe this!"

"Amber wakes up, a doctor gives me a shoutout and Amber has more memories!

Camelot leaves Amber... All I wanna do right now is quote Monty Python: "On second time, let's not go to Camelot. 'Tis a silly place."

Amber snickered. "That's the only part of the movie that Kai has seen." I punched her in the arm. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"Don't make me look like an idiot." I growled. "I feel ridiculous about not having seen Monty Python yet."

"You humans have the best entertainment." She snickered again as she remembered the clip.

"And Blue Blood and Cadence. Who I see as Frank Sinatra and The Ultimate Warrior respectively, for no good reason.

Finally, because I don't know how else to end this recap: "Tonight, I'm gonna have myself, a real good time. I feel alive - AND THE WORLD! I'll turn it inside out, yeah. I'm floating around in escatsy so don't! Stop me now! Don't stop me, 'cause I'm having a good time! Having a good time!"

Amber started singing along. "I love this song!" Then she stopped and sighed. "But that's all I know. Back to loneliness for me."


	6. I'll survive

**Chapter 6**

Amber looked up with alarm to see an old foe she had hoped she would never see again. He was tall, nearly as tall as the trees, and his skin was a deathly white that reminded Amber of a bone left to bleach in the sun for weeks. His face was blank of any expression, because it had no features. A dark mist swirled around him. He stood at a distance, but no matter how far away he might be, he was always too close for comfort.

The Silent Terror. At least, that was the first name to come to mind, immediately followed by the Slender Mane. A deathly chill ran down her spine and her leg throbbed mercilessly where she had been given the shot.

This was impossible. Slender Mane was dead, she had killed him herself years ago. Did monsters have spirits? Amber's heart pounded mercilessly in her ears.

_Doom. Doom. Doom._ It sounded through her very skull.

Maybe he couldn't die.

Amber was shaking now, and couldn't move for fear that he would spot her. Twilight turned around. "Amber? What's wrong?"

Amber looked up and The Silent Terror was gone as silently as he left. "Nothing." She lied. Nopony would believe her if she said she had seen him. Ponies would think her sanity had finally snapped.

Maybe it had.

The rest of the trip home was silent. Amber already knew this ghoul's tricks. Sometimes only one person could see him, but sometimes he chose to reveal himself to more. Nobody knew how or why.

Amber knew why she wouldn't be sleeping tonight.

* * *

Spike was still hiding from Amber. I guess I had scared him more than I realized, she thought. The poor little guy's avoided me like the plague. Still she didn't trust him. Maybe he was scared now, but he would become more confident as he grew. The house was quiet except for the greeting hoot of Twilight's owl and the crackle of a warm fire to ward off the dank chills that autumn had brought. There wasn't a swarm of ponies wanting to meet Amber like the last time she had been there.

"Hello?" She called for no particular reason. The Silent Terror was nagging a corner of her mind. He was out there. Amber knew what she had seen. But there was no reason to worry Twilight.

A shadow in the back of the room moved. Amber leapt out of her skin, fighting the urge to shriek. Her heart pounded in my chest. Amber was certain that it was about to break free of her rib cage. The shadow brought itself forward and she looked down to discover that it was being cast by Spike. Harmless, helpless little Spike. His shadow was elongated by his angle to the fire. Amber's breathing slowed.

Most likely she was losing her mind. Too much time on the border had done that to one of her allies. So this was how sanity ended? It was no worse than she had expected.

"Amber?" Twilight gave her a quizzical look. "Are you really sure that you're fine? You're acting really paranoid. It's kind of creeping me out."

Amber swallowed dryly. "Nothing's wrong." Her eyes darted to the window. Nobody was there. Perhaps the Silent Terror had been her imagination. The mud had been a trigger for unwanted memories. Amber looked down at her striped coat. It was splattered with thin, soupy mud soaking through her skin. "Maybe I should take a bath." She suggested.

Twilight wrinkled her nose. "Definitely. You smell like something dead."

Amber sniffed and agreed with her. She walked up the flight of stairs and into the bathroom, looking down all the hallways before entering them. Get a grip, Amber. She snarled to herself. You've been through this before when he was trying to take the little boy. Remember that? He didn't leave you alone until you killed him with your bare hoofs. You're fine, just don't think about him.

Of course, telling yourself not to think of something brings that very thing to mind. Her brain obsessed over him, wondering what he was, and where had had come from, and how he had found her. Amber showered as quickly as she could, eager to leave the room. Amber hated being alone. What if he came after her friends?

A scream came from downstairs. Once again, her heart felt ready to explode. Amber grabbed a towel and ran out the door. "I'm coming!" She shouted. She sprinted down the stairs and hoped that she wasn't too late. Twilight screamed again and her feet flew even faster. It had been a long time since Amber had run so fast. Adrenaline flowed through her veins instead of blood.

Amber stumbled down the last steps and found Twilight backed into a corner faced with what seemed to be the worst horror of her darkest dreams. A grass snake. Amber rolled her eyes. "Seriously?"

"Are you joking? That thing's about to kill me!" She panicked.

Amber sighed and tried not to be angry about the minor heart attack. "No it's not." Once again her heart slowed down to a normal rate. "You're overreacting." She picked up the snake. "This guy's not even poisonous. Open the window, will you?" Trembling, Twilight complied and Amber tossed the snake into the garden. "There, he's gone."

"Thanks," Twilight blushed. "I don't know what came over me. Snakes just freak me out."

"I noticed." Amber sank down into the easy chair by the fire. "I guess we all have our little quirks. I hate small spaces and crowds, you hate snakes." And I have issues with a certain slender, faceless pony. She added mentally. Her eyes flickered towards the window and back to her friend. She could have sworn she had seen a strange shadow in the woods when she threw the snake out the window. He had followed her home. Amber's leg throbbed again. She would have to do something tonight to confirm that he was real, but it was incredibly risky. And if he was real, her life would end abruptly.

* * *

The later it got, the stronger his presence felt. Unfortunately, Twilight was awake, reading unusually late after sleeping all afternoon. Amber glanced towards the window every few seconds, certain that she would see him. She was downright terrified by the time Twilight finally put her book back on the shelf and went to bed.

Cautiously, Amber opened the door and stepped outside onto the porch. For the longest time she just stood there, too scared to enter the woods. Amber's leg was throbbing mercilessly now. She felt her heart racing like a rabbit being hunted by dogs. Amber couldn't even see him and he was affecting her. Finally she forced herself to walk off the porch and sever her last connection with Twilight. Amber couldn't put her in danger if her hunch was wrong.

The woods behind the library were so close, but looking at them gave Amber an uncontrolled sense of vertigo. Maybe it was her imagination, but it looked like an inky fog was rolling out of the woods. Regardless, she walked towards it. She had to know if what she saw was real. Amber felt a prickling on the back of her neck and froze. The throbbing in her leg lessened to a dull numbness and she suddenly felt very tired. Time slowed down. Amber felt like laying down on the ground and just going to sleep and never waking up. Some small part of her brain was still awake and, hardly aware of what she was doing, Amber turned around.

The Silent Terror stood before her.

Oddly, she didn't panic this time. He carried an air of peace around him. Peace that none dared disturb because he elected himself the protector of the peace. He would enforce the peace by making sure there were none left to disturb it. Amber had killed him long ago, any yet he stood before her.

Shaking, Amber reached a hoof out towards his face. As she moved towards him he stepped back a bit, as if he didn't want her to touch him. If she was right, and he was a poser, nothing would happen if she touched him. But if she was wrong she would be sucked into a void to join so many of his other victims. Amber sucked her gut in, braced herself, reached for his face…

And her hoof went straight through him. Amber frowned. She was still there, but this wasn't a pony in a costume. She had not anticipated this. She stood and stared at him for a while, perplexed. He stared back at her. Neither of them moved. Neither of them spoke. For hours they did this before Amber realized that the phantom had faded away like the dew that was forming on the grass. A golden beam of light broke through the trees and she knew that Celestia was performing her daily duties.

Amber yawned and blinked. She had not slept through the afternoon before like the other ponies, choosing to explore Sweet Apple Acres instead. Now she was exhausted. The throbbing in her leg had lessened, but her wing ached like a fury. Slowly, she walked back to Golden Oaks.

* * *

The door opened with a creak. Amber realized that that was the first sound she had heard all day. While she and Slender Mane stared at each other she had not heard a thing. She glanced at the clock, which spelled out 7:30 in large, elegant numbers. Twilight would wake up soon and Amber could hear Spike preparing breakfast. Amber narrowed her eyes a little. Despite what Twilight had said, she couldn't trust a dragon. Not after seeing them stealing lives as if they were toys that could be cast aside when they tired of them. Amber decided it would be best if she made sure that the dragon wasn't doing anything to poison the food.

She walked into the kitchen. "Morning."

Spike jumped, dropping the pots he had been carrying to the sink. They created a clamor like thunder. "Aaugh!" He yelped, then sighed. "Oh, Amber, it's you. You scared me for a minute. What are you doing up?"

Amber shrugged. "Went on a walk in the woods."

"Oh yeah, they're nice early in the morning." Spike started picking up the mess on the floor. "So, you hungry?"

Alarm bells rang in Amber's head. He was looking for weakness, she just knew it. "Not really," she lied. The apples hadn't been particularly filling.

"Aw, come on." He waved a pan of scrambled eggs near her nose. "Tell me this doesn't smell like the best eggs in the world."

Amber's stomach growled when the scent hit her nose. "Maybe I'm a little hungry after all." She admitted. "Doesn't mean I'm not going to watch you preparing breakfast."

Spike shrugged his shoulders. "If you want to. It's kind of boring, but it won't take much longer." He turned back to his eggs and sighed. "I'd rather eat gems any day, but eggs are all right."

The clopping of hooves tapped gently in the hallway. Twilight walked into the kitchen and yawned. "Well, I don't know about you, but that was the best sleep I've had in weeks." She blinked and looked at Amber. "I thought you took a bath last night."

Amber examined herself. Leaves were tangled in her mane and mud splattered her coat once again. She yawned. "Rough night."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't explain anything. Is there something you need to tell me?"

Reluctantly, Amber nodded. "Can we talk alone?" She glanced at Spike. She didn't want to have a heart to heart or whatever in front of him. Weakness could be fatal.

"Sure." Twilight took her hint and stepped outside, Amber following at her tail. "So what did you want to tell me?"

* * *

**A/N: **Well, I experimented with a different style, and I'm not really sure about how well it turned out. Feel free to let me know what you think. Also, I've been too busy to update lately because I'm on the school robotics team (we made it to state! Woohoo!) and that takes a lot of time and an incredible amount of energy. I had this chapter ready a few days ago, but was too tired every night to update. And tonight I'm too tired to write a response to my lovely reviewers, sorry.

The good news? I got a new battery for my laptop /)O3O(\ This baby should last me until collage now.

Questions? Comments? Major theological/ethical issues? There's a comment box right below you. No, not that, that's the bottom of the page. It's the big rectangle.


	7. I'll Get By

**Chapter 7**

Amer sighed. She hated having to share her burdens. It felt wrong, like she was too weak to take care of herself. "I've been seeing things," she started, her voice tired and stuttering. "I know this sounds crazy, but he's everywhere. Whenever I see him my leg starts throbbing and my wing aches."

"I don't understand." Twilight frowned. "Who's everywhere? And what does that have to do with your wing?"

"Slender Mane." Amber forced the words out of her throat. "I've been seeing him ever since I got back from the hospital. It's driving me insane! I saw him just last night and I decided to see if I could touch him to see if he was real. I reached out my hoof, and it went straight through him."

"That's odd," Twilight commented.

"I know, but that's not the end of it." Amber barely acknowledged her. "I've killed Slender Mane. Well, that's not quite right. I condemned him to the Pits of Tartarus." She corrected herself. "So there's no way I could be seeing him without seeing monsters everywhere that everybody else could see. So I thought he was a poser, but then I couldn't touch him, so that meant that he was actually not real, and it makes no sense, I- I think I'm going insane." Amber's voice sped up, faster and faster like a runaway train as she tried to get her message across.

Twilight sat in a confused daze. "So... now that we have that out of the way, is there anything else I need to know?"

Amber thought for a moment. "Well, come to think of it, this might be important. Every time I see him, my leg starts throbbing, right where I took the shot. Remember?"

Her friend frowned. "What shot? The doctor never told me anything about a shot. We don't usually give shots for broken bones. Unless, of course, they thought that your lacerations could have contracted tetanus or picked up some parasites. But they would have told me about that."

Now Amber frowned. "But he told me that most ponies get that shot. It speeds up the healing process. He said it might not work on me because I was bigger and built differently."

Twilight stood up and started pacing. "But that's impossible. If somepony made that kind of breakthrough, everypony would know. The science world would be exploding with excitement, the good news would be in every paper. There's no way that this could have happened without my hearing of 's ears pricked forward as she listened. "Do you think this could have anything to do with seeing Slender Mane?"

Twilight nodded. "Possibly. I don't know anything for sure yet. But we're about to find out. Come on, Amber." She stood up and opened the door. Amber followed suit and walked down the dirt path.

"What about breakfast?" Spike called after them, but to no avail. He sighed. "And now I have four eggs to eat."

* * *

"Ma'am, that type of medication does not exist." Nurse Cold Heart droned, giving Twilight a bored look. "I would have thought that a librarian like yourself would have known as much."

"But it does!" Amber repeated. "I know what the doctor said. It's supposed to heal me but instead it's giving me some crazy hallucinations."

Nurse Cold Heart looked at Amber skeptically. "Is that so? What was the doctor's name?"

Amber thought for a moment. The stallion given his name, come to think of it. But he hadn't been wearing a name tag. Amber searched her mind a little bit deeper. "Stable," she said. "His name was Doctor Stable."

The nurse sighed. "I'll check our records. Don't think I've met him, though." She pulled out a binder labeled "Staff" and began flipping through it. "Monitor... Shingles... Sunny Daze..." She closed the binder and looked back to the patient. "I'm sorry, ma'am, we have no record of a Dr. Stable. We can run some tests to see what's giving you the hallucinations, but I think that you might be better suited to try our psychiatric ward."

Amber snorted indignantly. "I'm not crazy!" She snapped. Her good wing hunched forward aggressively and a few patients in the waiting room stared. "I know I'm strange compared to you ponies, but that doesn't mean I'm insane!"

"Come on, Amber," Twilight tugged her out of line with her magic. "Let's go home and eat some breakfast. This will all make sense once you calm down."

Amber huffed and stormed out the door. "Sorry about that," Twilight apologized. "She's a bit touchy in the mornings."

* * *

"Crazy? I can't believe them! I'm as stable as a table." Amber continued ranting all the way to Sugar Cube Corner.

"She's right, you know." Pinkie appeared next to her. "Tables are very, very stable. Especially our tables. They have to be! Ponies dance on them sometimes when I throw parties, and it would be really bad if one of them broke."

"Good morning, Pinkie." Twilight sighed with relief. She needed something to distract Amber. Twilight was tired already and it was only mid-morning. "We stopped by for breakfast." She walked up to the counter and inspected the sweets behind the glass.

"What can I get for you, dearie?" Mrs. Cake asked. "We have a special on cinnamon rolls today."

Twilight nodded. "Sounds good."

"I think I'll have one too." Amber added. Twilight paid for the food and sat down at a convenient table. Pinkie Pie bounced over and sat next to her friends.

"What's up?" She greeted them.

"Nothing much." Amber glared at a knothole in the table. "I just found out that I'm crazy, nothing much."

"Oh, everypony thinks I'm crazy." Pinkie giggled.

Amber picked at her cinnamon roll listlessly. "Not hyper-crazy, crazy-crazy. The kind of crazy that qualifies me as a public menace."

"She never said anything about being a public menace," Twilight reminded her.

Amber shrugged and rubbed her leg. "Is that still bothering you?" Twilight asked. "I've got some pain-relief spells if you'd like."

Amber shook her head. "I took some medicine earlier. The doctor said magic would mess everything up."

"Right, the doctor who isn't a doctor." Twilight took a big bite of cinnamon.

"I probably just remembered his name wrong." Amber rested her head on the table. "Should have been paying better attention. I just wanted to get out of there."

An awkward silence followed. Twilight ate her cinnamon roll quietly and Pinkie decided to make sure the Cakes didn't need any help with the twins. Amber could see Slender Mane standing in the corner, but decided to ignore him now that his existence was in question.

By the time they got home Spike had cleaned the kitchen and they could hear splashing upstairs. Soap bubbles floated around in the air and Twilight sighed. "Two hours down, five to go."

"Pardon?" Amber tilted her head.

"Oh, Spike likes taking bubble baths. That's not a problem, the problem is that the bubble baths take seven hours."

"I see." Amber laughed heartily. She vaguely realized that that was the first time she had laughed in months. It was kind of nice, a little bit like speaking a different language. "Well, what are we going to do until he finishes his bath?"

"Research!" Twilight clapped her hooves. "I have lots of books relating to strange phenomenons like your hallucinations. It'll be tricky to run some tests without magic, but I'm sure I can work something out." She began levitating several tomes from the east section of the library.

"You can go through this one." She gave Amber a book called Supernaturals: Herbal Remedies that are Simply Super! Amber gave her a confused look. Twilight seemed to be more intent on formal research. If it weren't for the well-worn cover, the book would have been mistaken for a cheap book on a clearance sale. A clearance sale held in a questionable part of town in the middle of a dark alley.

"I know it doesn't seem like a dependable source, but you can't judge books by their cover." Twilight brushed off Amber's concern and continued browsing the volumes.

Amber shrugged and decided to give it a shot.

It had a surprising number of potions and brews she had been obliged to figure out for herself on the borders. Poison Joke, Polyjuice Potions, combinations of herbs that made you well, combinations that made your enemies sick. One in particular caught her interest. It was a rare fungus called Duskwort, an incredibly powerful sleeping drug that had been known to lay out entire villages.

After that came a section of different concoctions and their symptoms. There was one that stole a pony's cutie mark, and another that would cause the thief to break out into itchy rashes. Amber flipped through several more pages until an illustration caught her eye. It was the same hallucination she had seen the other day. Intrigued, she read on.

_Jumiji Juice_

_This poison, made from the juices of the Jumangi berries and a variety of unnamed herbs and plants, has been known to drive ponies to insanity._

_The juice was created by unicorn sages in the service of a king who wished to stage small crises that they could defeat in order to gain the trust of his subjects. He believed that if he slipped the poison in the food of one of his servants and cured the servant, the ponies he ruled would see him as a benevolent ruler who cared for even the least of his subjects._

_Unfortunately, the plan backfired. Instead of putting the poison in the servant's food, the cook accidentally poisoned the king's food instead. The king saw an apparition (drawn in the left corner based on his descriptions) in various dark corners of his home and the pain of even the least of his injuries intensified tenfold. The sages failed to find a cure for this malady and the king threw himself off of a cliff in panic._

_Studies have been performed upon the king's bones. Scientists have theorized as to just what drove the king to his madness. Evidence suggests that the poison was not actually ingested as the story tells, but rather it was injected. While scientists were unable to recreate the poison they were able to deduce that the poison was only effective in the bloodstream and invaded the brain._

_The only known (actually theorized) cure is time and calm. The poison of the Jumangi berries, which cause the pain, can disperse from the bloodstream typically within a month or two. If you have seen this hallucination, we recommend that you stay calm and hope that our theories are correct._

Amber turned around to face Twilight. "I think this is it."

Twilight looked up from her fortress of books. "Really? That didn't take very long. I'd say an hour at most. Did it mention a cure?"

Amber sighed. "Keep calm until you stop seeing him."

"How long will that take?" Twilight glanced at her calendar.

"Nobody knows." Amber shrugged her good shoulder. "But it's not like I can fly while I wait. It'll be really boring."

"I'm sure there's something you can do." Twilight assured her. "Like... um... help me with the library!"

Amber snorted. "No thank you," she yawned. "Reading adventures isn't as fun as living one. But you've given me an idea." She tapped the side of her nose. "I'm going to earn a new cutie mark!"

Twilight groaned and hit her book with her face. "I take it there's no stopping you?"

"Nope!"

"Fine. Knock yourself out."

"Will do, Sarge!"


	8. When the World's Crashing Down

**A/N:** Okay, so it's been, what? Three months since I updated? I honestly have no excuse. However, I reread the chapters I had written and was not satisfied with my writing. I've made several revisions that I think improve the general flow and stability of the plot and writing style. The most notable change is that Amber has now never been an alicorn in any sense of the word.

* * *

Amber trotted down Main Street, a smile on her face and a blanket serving as a makeshift cloak. This was it! A new quest for a new destiny. Enough warfare, the army could fare without her. A new life awaited her, bursting with fresh potential. She almost felt like a filly again, ready to relive life's first great adventure. She recalled finding a mark on her flank underneath her armor after fighting in one of her first battles. She and her friends celebrated that night, holding a ceremony held by zebras across the world.

The ceremony represented a commencement of life in the real world and finding one's true purpose. Amber had worried that it might not ever happen. It was not unheard of for a pony to grow into adulthood to find their flank as bare as the day they were born.

The truth was that all her life Amber had been running away from what she truly was. Her birth had been unexpected and ill-timed. She had been born just months after the changeling hoard had invaded her tribe's land. People had said that she was a strange-looking filly, odd and misshapen. But in a month her appearance had changed to that of a normal zebra, save that her mane would not stand up in the customary mohawk. What most did not know was that she had always hidden her true form. She had used magical potions to project a different appearance.

Now she was just running a little further away from that truth. She was ready for a different outlook, a new identity.

"Oh, hello, Amber!" A white unicorn called.

"Hello, uh," Amber tried to remember the unicorn's name. "Rarity? Your name's Rarity, right?"

"Yes, it is." Rarity walked across the street. "Not to seem impolite, but, ah," She looked Amber up and down with a critical eye. "How do I put this delicately? Is there any particular reason that you're wearing a blanket?"

"It was supposed to be a cloak." Amber reassessed her appearance and realized that a blanket might be a very poor substitute.

Rarity pursed her lips. "Hmm..."

"What?" Amber took a step back. "Is there something wrong with wearing a cloak?"

"It's a crime!" Rarity declared.

"Seriously?" Amber asked. "Why would it be illegal to wear a cloak?"

"That one is a crime against fashion, darling," Rarity extrapolated. "You simply can't go about wearing that... uh, thing. Come with me, I'll make you a new one. It will shine with fabulosity! With all this chilly weather, I've got a feeling that cloaks are going to be making a huge comeback this year."

Amber said that she wasn't sure she wanted something quite so flashy, but Rarity insisted on leading her to the Carousel Boutique.

"Bye, Rarity!" A bell jingled as a little white unicorn trotted out the door. "See you after school!"

"Just a minute, Sweetie Belle," Rarity blocked her path. "Don't you think it's a little cold out? Wouldn't you like to wear a sweater?"

Sweetie Belle glanced left and right. "It's not that cold. Nopony's going to be wearing a sweater today."

Rarity sighed. "Very well. But there's a cold air settling in. Promise you'll wear one tomorrow?"

"Okay, fine, but I have to go right now or I'm going to be late!" She jogged anxiously in place.

"Yes, run along." Rarity gave her a gentle nudge. "I'd hate to make you late for Miss Cheerilee."

Sweetie Belle scampered down the path, her saddlebags bounding wildly on her back.

"That was my sister," Rarity explained as she pushed open the door. The bell rang a merry little welcome to the pair. "Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique."

Amber repressed a shudder at the sight that greeted her eyes. At least ten pale mannequins stood in a neat line against the wall, perfect matches lacking any faces. Each of them bore a different unfinished outfit, waiting for a spark of inspiration to determine what feature they lacked. One of them even wore a black dress coat that needed a hem. Some loose scraps laying on its back waved in the damp breeze that drifted in from the open door.

Rarity did not see to notice Amber's alarm. "You can leave your blanket by the door. Now, you're a little bit differently sized than these dummies, but that's quite alright. All I really need is some measurements for the haunches, legs, and neck. Now, I thought that red might be a nice color for you, a splash of color to compliment your stripes, but then I realized that blue would be much nicer and would bring out the color of your eyes."

Rarity continued rambling, but Amber wasn't listening anymore. "Rarity," She asked, "How many mannequins do you have?"

"Hmm? Ten, right over there. Why?"

"No reason," Amber lied. In the far right corner of the shop in the shadows another blank figure stood, perfectly solid. In the past he had always been a little transparent. It was as if the hallucination was growing stronger. Was she seeing things, or was it bigger than last time?

Rarity turned back to her stacks of fabrics, pausing to pet her cat. "Now, I was thinking that I might make the cloak out of velvet, but that would be too heavy for fall weather. What do you think of this?" She held up a piece of sky blue cloth. "It's light, but warm."

Amber touched the blot. "It's good material. Do you have it in brown?"

Rarity hesitated. "Well, I do, but it's not really good for a base color."

"What's wrong with it?" Amber held up a bolt of brown cloth. "It's simple, and it helps you blend in on a battlefield." Her voice trailed off. Abandoning herself was going to be harder than she had thought.

"That color should never be used for anything other than accents." Rarity grimaced. "It's also a bit drab for clothing. I mostly use it for linens."

"I see." Amber tried to look intelligent staring at the cloth. "Do you think you could teach me a thing or two about fashion." Design hadn't been her first choice, but she had to get her mind off Slendermane immediately.

Rarity's face lit up with a smile. "Would I? I thought nopony would ever ask!" She pulled out a book. "Alright, the best way to learn is through trial and error, but this book is a guide to the measurements you'll need for making a pattern. Let's start with a simple skirt."

Rarity walked Amber through the basics of sewing, showing her a few stitches and giving tips about which fabric to use when. All the while she measured Amber with a measuring tape, jotting down little notes in an elegant notebook. After a couple hours she closed the notebook. "I'm going to make some lunch," She decided. "You can keep working if you want, I'll be a while."

"Alright," Amber said. She hunched over a vibrant stack of materials and tried to remember what Rarity had said. Something about a backstitch (whatever that was), and in the spring ponies would like wearing colors like pink, green, and orange. _Well_, Amber reasoned. _If they like them then I don't see why they wouldn't wear them now._ She selected the brightest of each color in materials of various textures and weight.

To her dismay, Amber found that the needle was nearly impossible to thread, and almost as difficult to hold. Then she spotted something that would solve all of her problems. There, under some quilting blocks, was a stapler. Perfect!

She arranged the fabric so that they formed a sort of pattern and cut a square out of the stack. She picked it up and to her dismay the fabric did not retain its perfect stack and fell in a heap on the floor. "Oh well." She shrugged the setback off and picked them up again. She laid the pile on top of an empty mannequin and stapled them together. Amber took a step back to admire her work.

Her work promptly slid off the dummy. But for a moment, it had looked pretty good! The colors didn't particularly appeal to her, but Rarity had composed a similar outfit on the dummy to her left, so maybe it was alright.

"I hope you like daisy sandwiches, because-" Rarity's eye twitched when she saw the mess before her. "My stars, darling!" She began to feel faint and forced herself to look away from the cacophony of color and silver staples. Fabric scraps littered the ground everywhere. Opalescence sat in a disgruntled pile of fur on the highest shelf she could find. Luckily Amber hadn't touched the sewing machine, because everything else she had laid a hoof on appeared to have been struck by a tornado. "What happened?"

"I made a skirt," Amber announced proudly. "I kind of modeled it after that one." She pointed at a skirt that Rarity had made for Pinkie Pie. "Also, I couldn't figure out how to thread the needle, so I used staples instead."

Rarity's legs began to tremble and she sat down, still taking in the newest disaster zone in Equestria. "I- I made that for Pinkie Pie's babysitting business," She stammered.

Amber's ears drooped. "You don't like it?"

"No, no!" Rarity waved her hooves. "That's not it at all. It's fabulous, really. Maybe I can use it for a quilt."

"You don't like it."

"Well... it's not so bad. The layers are a nice touch, you just need to use a needle next time. And different fabric."

Amber glanced at her flank, which was as blank as the day she had been born. "It's alright. I didn't think it would be a success anyway."

Rarity nodded.

"I guess I should start cleaning up."

Rarity nodded.

Amber sighed and set to work. Now that that distraction was over the Slendermane was brought to the forefront of her attention again. How could he be solid if the medicine was wearing off? Further, why didn't her leg hurt when she saw him?

Could he be real?

Amber brushed the thought out of her mind and turned her attention back to the scraps of fabric on the floor. He couldn't be real. He was dead. She had seen him die. There was no way in a thousand years that he could be alive.

Rarity had picked herself up and was beginning work on a forest green cloak. Amber realized that that must have been for her. Why would Rarity make the cloak for her after she had effectively wrecked her store? Amber vaguely recalled learning that Rarity was the Element of Generosity. The Elements must have had high standards to select one so giving.

By the time Amber had cleaned up her mess the cloak was done. It was a modest garment, deep green with brown accents. The rope around the neck was simple, yet elegant. The material was sturdy enough to be able to withstand brambles without being torn, yet it was also light and warm.

"It's perfect." Amber stared at the garment. "Thank you," she said softly. "Thank you so much."

"It was no trouble." Rarity smiled. "In fact, I think it is one of my better works. Homely, yet still attractive. Don't worry, I won't tell anypony about your blank flank."

Amber pulled the cloak over her shoulders. She found that two slits had been cut to allow her wings to push through and allow her to fly. Rarity had thought of everything.

Slendermane still stood in the corner.

"Before I go, can I ask you something?" Amber lowered her voice.

"Of course," Rarity replied, matching Amber's tone.

"Look in the far right corner. What do you see?"

Rarity gave a long, hard look. "Nothing. Why?"

Amber sighed. "No reason. Thank you anyway." The bell jingled for the third time that day to announce her departure.

Amber had seen Slendermane as clear as day, and yet Rarity had not. How could he be real if Amber saw him and others did not? He couldn't have been real.

Then what was standing in the corner?


	9. When I fall and hit the ground

Amber puzzled over what she had seen in the Carousel Boutique as she wandered nowhere in particular. If she had seen something that Rarity hadn't, what did that say about her hallucinations? Amber had heard of ponies seeing hallucinations so vivid that they seemed real, but the condition should have started wearing off by now.

She was almost tempted to go back to the Boutique and investigate what she had seen, but forced herself to move on.

_That's what Princess Amber Sands would have done. She reminded herself. You are no longer her. You are Amber. You must stop being Amber Sands. You are a different mare entirely, so you'd best forget her._

She picked up her pace a little, as if it would distance her from herself. She was violently jolted from her thoughts when something- no, three somethings- barreled into her, knocking her to the ground.

Amber grunted as a small hoof stepped on her wing. "Watch it!" she grumbled.

"Sorry," a filly's voice said, "But maybe you should watch where _you're_ going. We tried to warn you."

Amber stretched her wing experimentally. "Oh. Then I guess it's my turn to apologize. I was kind of distracted."

"It sure looked that way." A little white unicorn walked around to face Amber. "Are you feeling alright?"

Before Amber could answer, she was interrupted by an earth pony, this one with a slight western accent, "Oh my gosh! Girls! Come look at this."

Amber grimaced. She knew what they must have noticed. Looks like the cloak wasn't so effective after all.

"Whoah!" The pegasus gasped. "You're a blank flank."

Amber stood up, brushing the fillies away a little brusquely. "Yeah? What about it? I am aware that it's blank. You know, most of us don't go gawking at other ponies flanks." She stormed away, humiliated.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Scoots?" The earth pony grinned at her friend.

The pegasus nodded eagerly. "This is gonna be so cool!"

"What are we waiting for?" The unicorn bounced on the tips of her hooves. "Let's go!"

The trio ran down the street, giggling like the ice cream truck was around the next corner. "Wait up!"

They skidded to a stop in front of Amber.

"Can I help you with something?" Amber asked, baffled by this sudden attention.

The earth pony nodded her head vigorously. "Yep! I'm Apple Bloom, this is Sweetie Belle, and that's Scootaloo. Of course, most ponies call us the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We're on a quest-"

"A mission!" Scootaloo burst in.

"To find out cutie marks!" Apple Bloom elbowed Scootaloo. "And we think that you would make a great member. Think of all the things we could do! We'll get cutie marks in finding cutie marks!"

"Well..." Amber wavered. It _did_ sound like fun. It would look a bit ridiculous, an adult mare playing with three fillies, but that didn't seem to bother them.

"Please?" They begged and gave a unified adorable puppy-eyes gaze.

Amber tried to look away, she really did. But they were just too irresistable. "Okay!" She blurted. "I guess it couldn't hurt anything."

"Yay!" They bounced excitedly. "To the clubhouse!"

* * *

Amber had to hunch her neck to fit inside the tree house. Even then she was a bit nervous as the confined space seemed to press down on her. She tried to ignore the claustrophobia, but was hard-pressed to concentrate on other things.

"I would like to call our official meeting to order." Apple Bloom announced. Amber paid rapt attention to every word she said. "As the leader of the Cutie Mark Crusaders," Sweetie Belle raised her hoof and waved it wildly. Apple Bloom sighed. "Yes, Sweetie Belle?"

"Who made you the leader?" She demanded.

"Well it was my idea, and I decided on the name, so I think I should be the leader." She brushed a bit of dust off her podium. "Now, as I was saying- Yes, Sweetie Belle?"

"I have more ideas for cutie marks that don't involve tree sap." She said. "I think I should be the leader."

Apple Bloom stared for a moment. "Nope. Now, we have a new-"

"That's not fair!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "Just because our plans have tree sap doesn't mean they're bad! You just don't want to get your hooves dirty."

"That's not true!" Sweetie Belle leapt to her feet. "I just don't like sap is all! And we're usually covered in sap because we fell out of a tree."

"What's wrong with that?"

"It hurts, you penguin!"

Amber crouched lower and felt all her muscles tense. It was such a small room, and they were so _loud_!

"Girls!" Apple Bloom banged a gavel on the podium. "Let's not fight about this now."

Reluctantly the two fillies backed away from each other and paid attention.

Apple Bloom nodded with satisfaction. "Good. I'd like to introduce our newest member, Amber Sands. Now, does anypony have any ideas for ways to get our cutie marks?"

A brief moment of silence settled over the room. "Matchmaking?" Sweetie Belle suggested.

"Sounds dangerous, no matter what kind of match you're making." Apple Bloom wrote the suggestion down nonetheless. "Anybody else?"

Amber thought for a moment, then raised her hoof. "I've got one."

* * *

"So what are we doing again?" Scootaloo asked.

Amber tied a string around her waist. "It's called pegasus kiting. It's like flying a kite, but a lot more fun."

"Oh." She looked at the ground.

Amber turned around. "What? Are you afraid of heights?"

Scootaloo shuffled her feet. "No, it's not that."

"Then what's the problem?" Amber pulled the bandage off her wing.

"I can't- I can't fly." Scootaloo blurted out.

Amber shrugged. "Can you spread your wings?"

"Well... yeah."

"Then up you go!" Amber handed Scootaloo's string to Sweetie Belle and lifted Scootaloo into the air.

Scootaloo closed her eyes tight, sure that Amber was about to drop her. Amber paid no mind, but climbed higher and higher. "This is the part where you spread your wings." She whispered in the filly's ear.

"Huh?" Scootaloo looked down in surprise to find that the ground far away, but she was entirely safe.

So this was what flying was like. The wind pushed against her feathers, keeping her in the air. The sky was a whole other world, full of surprises and freedom. The freedom was unlike anything she had seen before. The only thing binding her to the ground was the tether around her waist. She tilted her wings and discovered that she could steer this way. She laughed with delight and waved down to her friends holding the rope.

She had known that flying must have been amazing since Rainbow Dash loved it so much, but she had never imagined that it would be like this. Every sense was heightened in this bright, colorful world. The pond below her was just a puddle now. It was hard not to feel that she was on top of the world.

Amber smiled at the scene as she hovered between the filly and the ground. She had never seen one so enamoured with flight. Her sore wing was becoming less painful as she stretched it. She didn't care what the doctors said any more. In her mind, it was healed. A cool gust of wind kept the filly adrift.

Then the wind stopped.

That was the problem with pegasus kiting. The wind was unpredictable. There was no telling when it would stop.

A look of horror crossed Scootaloo's face as she plummeted towards the ground. She flapped her wings desperately, hoping to unlock the secret to flight before she was smashed to pieces.

Amber clamped her wings to her sides and entered a nosedive. "I've got you!" She called, hoping that the filly could hear her. "Just hang on!"

"Aaagghh!" Scootaloo screamed as the ground rushed closer and closer. Then a black and white mass of feathers grabbed her, halting her fall. The earth was approaching slower now, and she was lowered safely to the ground.

"There you go." Amber ruffled Scootaloo's bangs. "Safe and sound."

Scootaloo was on her hooves in an instant."Did I get my cutie mark?" She spun in circles to try and catch a glimpse of her flank. Unfortunately, it hadn't changed.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gaped in shock at Amber. "Could we have a moment?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Sure." Amber shrugged. Scootaloo sat at her side.

"We need you too, Scoots." Apple Bloom tugged her wing gently.

"Alright, I guess." Scootaloo joined her friends in a football huddle.

On her own again, Amber couldn't help feeling dejected. Even children shunned her from their circles. She had a feeling she knew what they were talking about. She pricked her ears forward and listened in on their conversation.

"... don't know about this," said Apple Bloom.

"She seems nice, but I don't know if she's a good addition for our club." Sweetie Belle interjected.

"Are you serious?" Scootaloo exclaimed. "That was amazing! I've never done anything like it. I didn't get my cutie mark, but I was getting close. I could feel it."

"You almost died, Scoots." Apple Bloom reminded her. "You won't ever get your cutie mark if you're dead."

"My sister's told me all about her." Sweetie Belle agreed. "She's different, and dangerous. She spent thousands of years in a war zone. She'll want to do dangerous things." Amber flinched when she heard that Rarity had described her as dangerous.

"She's a good friend and all, but I just don't think that she'd make a good Crusader." Apple Bloom concurred.

"But- But," Scootaloo spluttered. Then she sighed. "I guess you're right. But I'm not going to be the one telling her. I had the time of my life up there. I think you should be the one, Apple Bloom. You're the leader."

Apple Bloom sighed. "Alright then. Crusaders?" She raised her hoof up for a hoof bump that was returned softly by Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo looked away.

Amber pretended that she hadn't heard the conversation. "So what are we going to do now?" She asked, keeping up the pretense of not knowing what was really going on.

"About that," said Apple Bloom. She glanced back at her friends for support, but was only met by Scootaloo avoiding eye contact again. She cleared her throat. "It's not that we don't like you or anything, we just think that we- and you- would have a better chance at crusading without your help. It's nothing personal, it's just that Scootaloo could have gotten hurt back there. We can't afford to let something like that happen again."

Amber nodded. "I see. You guys have fun crusading. Good luck with your cutie marks."

Apple Bloom brightened up at her words. "You too. I'm glad you're not mad at us." She scampered off. "Come on, girls!" She trotted over the next hill, Sweetie Belle at her side. Scootaloo followed for a moment, then raced back and hugged Amber around her legs. "Thanks for everything!" She said, then hurried to join her friends.

Amber smiled as she watched her go, then let the smile fall when she was out of sight. There went another chance at finding a new life.

She turned around to leave, then noticed something strange in the pond. She walked over for a closer look. At first she saw nothing amiss. A few fish flitted back and forth in the shadows. Insects fed on algae and dodged the frogs' lazy attempts to catch them. Then she looked at her reflection and gasped.

A black, curved horn was beginning to show out of the top of her forehead.

She pulled her hood over her head hurriedly. She had dealt with this before. It wasn't a big deal, as long as nopony saw it. But Amber wasn't sure that she could make the potion if Twilight didn't have the ingredients.

She prayed that nopony would find out her secret.

* * *

**A/N:** I know, Apple Bloom was very out of character this chapter. I have a good reason for that, with an explanation that comes later. Much later.

Credit to the idea of Pegasus Kiting goes to deviantart's greviousfan.

Sorry this has been taking so long. I blame Doctor Who. Also my ask tumblr. It's pretty new, so feel free to check it out. It's ask iron-dash tumblr com. Replace the spaces with periods, naturally.


End file.
